Some residents near Ryan Street in the Oaklands neighbourhood got their wish when the City of Victoria erected barriers to hold back vehicle traffic at the top and bottom of what residents call Ryan Hill.
The closure means kids of all ages will be able to use the hill for sledding during the day while the snow lasts.
It was a victory for Lesia Kuzyk, who lives around the corner from Ryan Street on Roseberry Avenue, and wrote to the city this week asking why it had to ruin sliding fun every time it snows by plowing and salting the hill so quickly.
She said it had been plowed and salted by 5:30 a.m. on the first day of the big snow dump.
“It’s suboptimal, as the snow is mushy and will not last long,” she said, noting kids have been sliding down Ryan Hill for generations.
Mayor Marianne Alto said she lived in that neighbourhood for 21 years and her kids used the hill in the past.
But Alto said it’s about balancing fun against the need for public safety. “I completely understand what they are saying, but at the same time it is a road,” she said, noting it requires maintenance to allow emergency-vehicle access as well as resident vehicle access.
Alto said for sliding, she would prefer to see residents head to Beacon Hill Park, which she says has a better hill and scenery.
